The Festival of Erk 2013

[erkpod]

I'm off to MEL for some Vlounging & then I'm off to Darwin for a day trip, a status run & an unusual place for me to celebrate my birthday.

The outside of the building is still ugly but the lift can't bear to finish the word. It's just UG.



I found there's a few minutes before the tram to Southern Cross so a little time for some silly selfies for my collection as well as one I took earlier.







Lucky the Myki reader didn't beep when I did that.

Here's an aerial shot of a tram I took a little earlier from my apartment.

 

[erkpod]

After the short tram ride from Victoria Harbour to Southern Cross, I took a little time getting from train shots. While Southern Cross is no Spencer St of old, the facilities are much better.




I can think of one Sydney train driver who isn't me that would love all the purple.

There were a couple of carts that could have taken me to the Skybus stop but didn't. It seems strange to me that the Traveller's Aid buggy needs a booking 24 hrs in advance.





And finally, my Skybus to the Skyplane...



Next stop MEL & the Vlounge. Someone better have a hotdog waiting for me!

 

[erkpod]

Enjoying your report & like your humour with the photos

Thank you. It's my first AFF trip report. I try to find things that are a little different than usual.

 

[JessicaTam]

Enjoy DRW and beyond. See you when you/we get back.

 

[Hvr]

Good to see you enjoying MEL. Look like you've got some new avatar photos to be used in the future.

 

[erkpod]

No one in check-in at MEL so I checked myself in. I've got 6F & 2 shadows on the way up to DRW & 3D on the way back. I've just found the VFF Global Wallet doesn't accommodate a boarding pass perfectly flat but close enough.





Then I went to the Vlounge. I'm only silver right now & this is a trip in Y so I've used one of my silver guest passes. The male lounge angel remarked on how early I am (got to have quality lounge time!) & that I have 1 pass left. I assured him that I'll be gold at the end of this trip.



There's 3 pax including me in the Vlounge & no hotdogs. Last time I was in the MEL Vlounge during my May status run while in J, it was very crowded & a window seat was out of the question.

Now relaxing & awaiting departure. Can we go down to mood lighting & turn the TV down, please?





Now to look at the action on the ramp.

 

[erkpod]

Enjoy DRW and beyond. See you when you/we get back.

Safe travels to you & the other SIN lounges. I look forward to Sunday.

 

[erkpod]

Good to see you enjoying MEL. Look like you've got some new avatar photos to be used in the future.

I'm never short of a chance for a new avatar photo!

 

[erkpod]

I've now moved around to the recliner section where it is down to mood lighting. There's only so much watching of an A330 that I can do, especially if I can't get a pic of it.

With only the DRW plane remaining & 4 pax in the lounge including me. the staff have some down time. I can think of worse places to be. I might rest my eyes at this point but not before I ask "what is the point of this strange table?"



Maybe my purple loving friend should ask VA where they get their purple couches from.







So apart from me, the flight crew & the cabin crew, who would want to fly to DRW at this time? I guess we'll see in just over an hour when boarding starts.

 

[erkpod]

Have a fun time Erk!

I've found just being confident can lead people to asking you questions, OOL is really bad for very simple questions!

I was waiting to meet a mate at Southern Cross today & a lady asked me if I was a supervisor there. I said that I wasn't but I did point her towards the station staff member who was standing nearby in a hi-vis vest.

 

[bass_ke]

You should wear a children of bodom tshirt and scare them away!

As I was boarding my last flight, just after having BP's scanned a lady asked me if she was going the right direction as we were walking down the aerobridge!

 

[erkpod]

You should wear a children of bodom tshirt and scare them away!

As I was boarding my last flight, just after having BP's scanned a lady asked me if she was going the right direction as we were walking down the aerobridge!

Apart from a couple of shirts, my t-shirt selection is in a wide range of black.

Some people should have to do a test before they leave the house.

 

[erkpod]

They should have offered you (and those in the first 4 rows) a Galaxy Tab being a L2A bird - that's a service failure.

I just receieved an email from VA telling me that my next flight to DRW that I'm just about to take has the wireless IFE. I didn't bring my iPad as it is only a day trip (status run) & intend to sleep for most of the red eye.

 

[erkpod]

Day 3 MEL - DRW - MEL.

Happy birthday, Erk!

I started the day in the Vlounge before my flight to DRW. I receieved an email from VA telling me that the inflight wireless IFE would be available for this flight. And I planned to sleep...

By the time I left the Vlounge, there was about 12 people there. I thought I'd go for a walk & lean on a hoarding like I did in October last year.



The area to the main VA pier was closed which is odd for me.



Here's an ad for the REX lounge.



Security now then boarding.

 

[erkpod]

Arriving at MEL gate 12, there were quite a lot of people waiting to board which surprised me considering the 0145 departure time.

My bird VH-YIT was waiting for me. For the first time in a while, I'm travelling Y & aren't Gold yet so no PB for me. Boarding was from back to front so I waited until near the end to board which is what I try to do in Y.





While on the aerobridge, I spotted the best carry on bag ever.



Settling in 6F, it was the furtherest back I'd been on for a while & I was on the other side of the purple divide.





My shadows were in 6DE.

I was pleased that CSM Kristie gave a litle bit of time between announcing the dimming of the cabin lights & actually doing so. When the lights dimmed, they gradually dimmed to mood lighting. A minor peeve of mine is the immediate turning off of the cabin lights, often in mid sentence.

As can be expected at o'dark thirty, there was no mucking around & we were soon having the automatic safety briefing & then take off.

 

[SeatBackForward]

By the time I left the Vlounge, there was about 12 people there. I thought I'd go for a walk & lean on a hoarding like I did in October last year.

View attachment 18182

YES! Fight the power!

and oh, happy birthday

 

[erkpod]

Soon enough, the CSM advised us that the wireless IFE was available after the flightdeck switches off the seatbelt sign.

I connected straight away & not surprisingly, access to AFF was blocked. As I saw in the FAQ a few minutes later, there's no access to social media or the internet.

Flicking through the IFE briefly, the range of offerings seemed comparable to that in long haul Y to LAX. I loaded up a TV show quickly & it was ok on my iPhone. It would be much better on the iPad.







CSM Kristie noticed my shadows & offered 6D to passengers behind me. I still had 6E as a shadow, though. She thought that there was a lot of people crowded together while I had a row to myself.

With a coughing lady occupying 6D & the mood lighting on, I thought I'd get some sleep, aided by the room of my shadow in 6E.

Coming into Darwin was quite strange considering the 0545 local arrival. I sleep lightly on planes & know the basic procedure for arrival.

With the cabin dark, the CSM launched into a spiel about the NT's quaratine's requirements & then the VFF spiel. Most of the pax would have been in various stages of sleep.

A little later, the FO did his usual approach spiel & then a little later again, there was the "prepare the cabin for landing" spiel.

More time passed with the seatbelt sign off before the sign came on & the automatic announcement came on.

I don't know about you but that seemed a little cough about. I don't know how many asleep people sign up for VFF.

I was glad I didn't pony up the extra for half full J. Y with a shadow was good enough on this flight.

A textbook landing right on time was cool. It was still dark outside at 0545 local but already it was 22°C. The terminal was hot but outside the terminal is hotter.


Reminding me of OOL, I was surprised that DRW does have aerobridges. No view of the plane from the terminal unless I was in the QP.

The terminal was full of people setting off on their day of travel with severak people sleeping in the terminal.

I had to remind myself I'm up north & things run slower & differently up here. The shuttle bus left eventually & I'm on my way downtown. Thank you Darwin for having a festival in my honour.

As many a CSM would say, "thank you & good morning."

 

[JessicaTam]

Happy Birthday and enjoy DRW.

 

[erkpod]

Lots of walking around Darwin. I'm about to do what would be called the Aquaduck on the Gold Coast & then the double deck bus tour.







If I hang around this sign too long, people might think I work here.


The NT news is known for wacky headlines & stories. Today, not so much.


I went to the Duck's Nuts for breakfast but didn't want anything on the menu. I had an OJ.

 

[erkpod]

Some shots from my walk near the harbour this morning in Darwin.